About

Taming Light Studios is the freelance space I work under. It provides me with an outlet to explore creative verticals that extend beyond my day to day grind in the game industry. I work primarily with 2D imagery through Taming Light and provide content for games, television, film and illustrative needs. The works I provide range from concept development to live asset production.

bob macneil

art director/ concept artist

Born (1971) Newark, New Jersey. I am an American illustrator, painter, graphic designer & director with professional credits that span a 25 year career.

Around 1991-1992 I began my professional career in the print and package design industries where I worked as a production artist, graphic designer and illustrator. Most notably, my design and illustration works for Popsicle a product of Good Humor/ Breyers can still be found on shelves nearly 15 years after their initial creation.

In 2002, I moved into gaming and animation and worked on an assortment of projects as a background and concept artist. Some well-known shows I worked on as a background painter were the popular animation series The Venture Brothers for Cartoon Network and Saturday Night Lives'The Ambiguously Gay Duo with J.J. Sedelmaier for Saturday TV Funhouse. During this time I also contributed (alongside Michael Mattesi) to the pitch art that inspired the game Bioshock which was developed by 2K Boston/ Irrational Games. Bioshock went on to be the recipient of multiple industry awards, and was even named by Time magazine as one of the 100 greatest video games of all time.

In 2008, I moved away from core gaming to explore opportunities in land based casinos and in little over a 4 year period contributed lead art and art direction to over 50 slot machine titles distributed by IGT. A number of these titles I worked on achieved enormous success and have influenced standards throughout the video slot industry. Some standout titles include Cats, Secrets of the Forest and Golden Goddess.

In 2012, I relocated to Northern California to join the start-up culture of the San Francisco Bay Area and eventually found myself working for the free-to-play casual gaming market on the Facebook platform.

On a personal level, works from my portfolio have been added to the permanent database of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO - a division of the United Nations) as a case study focusing on the logistics surrounding artist copyright.

Most recently, my works as a creative director for Playstudios can be found in the myVEGAS catalog of online and mobile games. myVEGAS consistently ranks among the top 5 games in the casual casino games category.

PROCESS

Relying on the knowledge gained over the 24 years I have worked as a professional artist, I offer realistic solutions that are both transparent and flexible. When everyone involved in a project remains informed and on the same page, resolutions to creative obstacles tend to reveal themselves much more efficiently.

STRATEGY

A collaborative process where directions or ideas are discussed. It's a sort of "blue sky" approach between myself and any stake holders involved. This non-structured, casual conversation can reveal paths not before thought of but ultimately helps to define any desired goals in place for the project.

EXPLORATION

Various visual avenues and references are explored in this iterative process and made available for your selection. Rough pencils to potential color choices are prepared utilizing appropriate styles or techniques from my catalog which fit best with your project. Iteration is key!

CREATION

The refinement stage where your ideas are fully realized. Lines of communication between myself and your team remain open, as iteration continues to be key. However with stage 1 and 2 complete this process is more about the final production and focus on the end product.

DELIVERY

My experiences are varied in such a way that I have knowledge of print, motion, interactive and web media. Because of this I am capable of providing assets for whichever avenues your project might need. Through a dedicated FTP or the ancient practice of snail mail your needs will be met with results.

CLIENTS

Throughout my career a number of companies have entrusted me with upholding and cultivating their properties. From humble budgets to multi-million dollar IP's I have worked as both a supervisor or a production artist on a wide variety of campaigns and have the honor of saying the projects I have contributed to can be found all over the world.